Can top piercing tool for opening and venting in one operation



Dec. 22, 1953 ROBINSON 2,663,076

Rl CAN TOP PIERCING TOOL FOR OPENING AND VENTING IN ONE OPERATION Filed Nov. 19, 1949 EQAPH 20am: 0 M

Ottornegs Patented Dec. 2 2, 1953 CAN Tor Pmacme Toot. Iron ore .ANDVENTING m QNH- EM W Ralph Robinson, :Wauwatosm Wis;

Application November 19, 1949; Serial'N 51,23,37

. B Claims. (c1. sit-6.1)

This .inventionrelates to a can top piercing toolfor opening and venting in one operation.

It is a primaryobject ofthe invention to provide a can opener of the top piercing type which, in one operation, will pierce the can top to provide the usualopening and, in the same operation, willpierce the top at a point remote from the dispensing opening .to provide a vent.

It is a -further object ofgthe invention to provide a tool in-which a' vent producing portion of the tool is used to receive the pressure of the operators thumb. to facilitate the manipulation of the tool and increase the pressure which may be exerted therewith. I

A still further object of the invention is to provide a simple, one-piece tool in; which can piercing members for achieving are unitarily embodied: Inthe drawings? Fig. l is a view in side elevation of a tool embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the tool shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail view taken in section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. a

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective showing the tool as it appears when in use.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a can top which has been opened through the use of the tool, the view showing the relative positions of the punctures made therein.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention as shown in the drawings, a single piece of sheet metal provides a handle portion 1 which may incidentally include a crown cap removing hook at 8. All of the can engaging portions of the tool are located in a head 9 which is desirably wider than the handle. A centrally disposed tongue portion I is formed downwardly and has a forwardly directed edge at H for engagement beneath the bead l2 of a conventional can l3.

An intermediate portion ll of head 9 is bifurcated by the slot from which tongue I0 is formed, the portion l4 being connected with the handle by means of legs l and I6 lying at opposite sides of such slot. The portion It extends downwardly and has sides converging to an apex at I! positioned to be forced through the top wall l8 of the can to form the dispensing opening l9 therein.

The opening 20 in head 9 which is left by stamping out the prong I4 which forms the dispensing opening, bifurcates an outer prong 2| connected by legs 22 and 23 to the handle. Whereas the prong l4 extends downwardly from the plane of the handle, the prong 2| extends upwardly therethe foregoing results from. It also has converging sides, which terminate in the forwardly directed apex 24.

a In using the tool, the operators hand encircles the handle 1-, a'nd his thumb rests on the prong 2| as shown in Fig. 4& The'bead-engaging tongue I0 is hooked beneath the' bead |2 of the can to provide a fulcrumingconnection uponwhich the tool isoscillated by=lifting upwardly on-its handleand simultaneously pushing downwardly on prong 2| by exertingthe pressure of the thumb thereon.

'The first effect of theoscillatory movement is to produce the"usua1' dispensing opening at I9,

the'prong l4 readilypenetrating'the; can top for this purpose. Continuedoscillationjof the tool in the same direction will force the prong 24 through the: can top 'to make therein a venting puncture .at 25, sufiiciently remote-' -from the dispensing opening-I9 to assure -a'satisfactory flow of the contents through the dispensing opening.

Because the upward pressure of the operator's hand on the handle I is measurably ofiset by the downward pressure of the thumb on prong 2| at the opposite side of the fulcrum, there is very little tendency to tilt or otherwise displace the can upon which the tool is operating. For this reason, as well as because of the two-point application of pressure, the tool is exceptionally easy to use.

I claim:

1. A can top puncturing tool of the type hav-- ing fulcruming engagement with a can bead,. comprising a lever having a bead-engaging; tongue intermediate its ends, a portion of the:

lever at one side of said tongue constituting a: handle, and a portion of the lever at the other side of the tongue being adapted to receive thumb pressure, and a puncturing prong connected with the lever intermediate the tongue and said thumb pressure receiving-portion and directed downwardly, said prong and said thumb receiving portion being disposed in intersecting angularly related planes and said handle being disposed in a plane lying between said intersecting planes.

2. A tool of the character described comprising a handle and a head wider than the handle, a first piercing prong connected to the head and a second piercing prong connected to the head at opposite sides of the first mentioned piercing prong, the connections of the said second piercing prong comprising bifurcated legs having margins mutually adjacent to the margins of the first piercing prong.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein the head is further provided with a bead engaging tongue to leave a first opening in said head, a piercing? prong having bifurcated legsconnected with.,the

4 finger extending angularly from the plane of the handle at the same side thereof at which said second prong projects and provided with a hook for can bead engagement.

8. A tool of the character described comprising a lever composed of a single piece of sheet metal having an elongated handle portion and a head -=which is wider' than the handle portion and joined thereto, a tongue formed downwardly From said lever adjacent the juncture of the handle portion-and head and having a forwardly head at opposite sides of saidiitcnguepand.first opening and curving downwardly therefrom to leave a second opening in saidth'eadaamtabifnncated lever portion connected=with saidirhfiead at both sides of said piercing prong and sec'on'd opening and constituting-a .thumb-engageable pressure-receiving part of said lever to be thrust downwardly concurrently with the applicationof upward pressure to said handle and forcing said, prong into, a; can=top= 5. The device of claimAiinewhich said last mentioned leverportion extends upwardly from said handle and-hasaiterminalpiercing, apextfor cutting its own, aperture im thfisca itqp remote from the portion Ofgt'he: cantop; upon which, said ,pi ina ron s chem-ted 6. A- tool ofgthe'character; describedicomprising a vent piercing prong. having a-bifurcated: base withr spaced, legsr a seconds piercing prong ggfor cutting a dispensing opening and disposed-{betweenthe spaced ,legs -of saidr base? andmnitarily connected. therewith,,;and" handle: connected withboth. prongs at said aseig;the:,said;,:prongs projecting in,opposite;.dinectionsifromxthe plane of said handla;

7. The devieepf ,claimafi im-whichw-the:ssecond pron ais; alsovzbifurcated ;to;;providei, spaced: F1685, and the, handle;isrnrovidedzrwithea ,fulernming directedg-hook at its apex, a bifurcated prong having legs connecting it to the lever adjacent the juncture ofsaid head and handle portion and at opposite-sides of said tongue, said prong extending obliquely downwardly from the plane of sa-id handle-andhaving a downwardly curving,

perforating apex, and a second bifurcated prong having leg portions constituting the widened part of said head and connected with said handle portion externally of the l'eg p'o'rtions of the prong ifivst mentioned; said secondprong extendin'g upwardlyfrom the plane of the' handle and ha ving-a;forwardly;directed apex, said second prong constituting thumb-'engage'able" means for receiving pressure to supplem'ent the upward pressure of anoperators" hand on the handle and be'ih'g-fadapt'ed tb make a veriting perforation -in-a can top -puncture'd b'y-"saldfirst prong.-

RALP-H ROBINSON References :Cited in the file sof this patent UN-ITEDST'ATES' PATENTS Number I, 7 Name vDate 2,046,879 .Leppliela a-mun July 7-, 1 936 2,135,253: J. Meier-. et-al Mar. 26, 1940 2,232,123 Luppert 1 as. 1f'eb;.-18, .1941 

